A longstanding alliance that prepares Pennsylvania College of Technology students for careers in a variety of fields will continue with the recent donation of $98,000 from the Caterpillar Foundation and several of its regional dealerships.

“The generous donations from the Caterpillar Foundation and its dealers will allow us to accomplish several of our goals for this year – the most important being providing additional economic assistance to our students,” said Mary A. Sullivan, dean of the college’s School of Natural Resources Management. “We are grateful for their ongoing support.”

A total of $48,000 in matching funds was provided through the Caterpillar Excellence Fund, a consortium comprising the Caterpillar Foundation, the aforementioned three dealers and Ransome CAT. Alban contributed another $2,000 to sponsor additional students in the heavy construction equipment technology major, bringing the overall total to $98,000.

“It is getting harder to find good qualified technicians,” said Karl Quinn, Alban’s training manager. “Penn College offers a program that, when the student graduates, you have a technician that has a very good basic skill level. The Caterpillar dealers can build upon that, and start using the technician to do meaningful work.”

Quinn has served on the college’s Heavy Construction Equipment: Caterpillar Emphasis Advisory Committee for more than a quarter-century, joined by other corporate leaders in bringing to the table a real-world perspective that is reflected in the college curriculum.

“Caterpillar and the neighboring dealers have been supporting the Penn College effort for years, and we are very pleased at the programs they offer,” Quinn said. “I believe those programs go much deeper than a number of others that we have looked at. We look forward to continuing our working relationship as the college continues to make investments in programs that try to stay on top of trends that the industry incorporates.”

The financial commitment – renewed during a Caterpillar advisory meeting prior to the Fall Career Fair – brings to nearly $1.96 million the total received since 1994. Caterpillar dealers regularly supplement that financial contribution with donated and loaned equipment, faculty training, scholarship assistance and technical advice beyond measure.